A chronicle of my journey to Pitcairn Island and the 11 days that I stayed there.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Before Pitcairn: At Sea

On the Claymore, breakfast was served at 7:30 AM, lunch at noon, and dinner at 6 PM. I got up for breakfast and ate with five other passengers only. Apparently most of the other passengers were too seasick to leave their cabin. Every cabin was equipped with a bucket.

I had known beforehand that I was prone to seasickness, so I brought seasick pills with me, set a repeating six-hour timer on my watch, and took a couple of pills every time my watch beeped, including in the middle of the night. This kept me feeling reasonably well.

Open ocean

The boat swayed incessantly throughout the entire day. We had to adjust our walking, hold onto our dishes at the dining table, get tossed around in the shower, and sleep with the motion. I spent the morning sitting on the upper deck, just looking at the open ocean. I felt that the fresh air made me feel better.

In the afternoon, I suggested playing The Settlers of Catan, a German board game about settling an uninhabited island. It involves collecting and trading resources to build. I had brought the game with me, and I taught Anneka, Possum, and Dennis how to play. About 15 minutes into the game, the boat swayed a bit too much, and all the pieces ended up on the floor.